GMR Declared Net Loss of Rs1,006.7 crore for 4th Quarter

Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin

GMR Infrastructure on Tuesday declared a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,006.7 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, on account of a one-time loss from its dissociate of power company InterGen NV and losses from its Delhi airport.

Losses from the Delhi airport stood at INR 214 crore for the quarter on higher capacity costs, including interest charges and depreciation, with Terminal-3 becoming operational during the financial year. GMR’s net revenue during the quarter increased 74% to INR1,962 crore over INR1,125 crore in the corresponding period last year. The growth was assisted by revenue from its Male airport, the increase in traffic at Hyderabad and Delhi airports and better operations in its Chennai and Kakinada power plants, the company said.

The losses from the InterGen dissociate and Delhi airport operations also diminished the full year performance of the company which posted a loss of INR 929 crore for 2010-2011 as against net profit of INR158 crore in the past year. Full year revenue, however, increased 26% to INR 5,773.8 crore with airports contributing 41%, energy business 38% and highways 7%. The chairman of the GMR group said,“Though the dissociate of InterGen has resulted in a one-time and non-recurring loss, it has released equity capital of INR 958 crore and would enable us to reinforce our focus and resources on more profitable Indian assets.” The company also expects to recover part of the loss through Island Power, which is Singapore-based electric utility.

Babus Turn Out to be Ingenious Investors.

Posted on June 1, 2011 by admin

NEW DELHI: Out of the 4,587 members of the IAS, about 660 has not filed their statements even on the last day for declaring immovable property.The statements posted on the department of personnel and training website shows how babus are clever investors since most of them own several properties, Greater Noida is the most preferred investment place, followed by other parts of the extensive and fast growing NCR.

Any senior bureaucrat on Central deputation owns a plot or flat or house in Greater Noida. It is also a favourite destination for babus of AGMUT cadre, who are usually posted in Delhi at some point of their careers.

Several officers, irrespective of their ranks, own several properties. However, there are certain exceptions among senior officials, whose returns show that neither they nor their spouses own any property. Many officers have not filled in the column on current market value on the plea that they have not determined it. There are some statements, which show suspect at first glance.

Former NDMC chairman Parimal Rai, who was one of the officers indicated in the Shunglu Commission report, has declared 08 properties, including 02 flats in posh area of Green Park. He has valued the flats at Rs 10 lakh each, which is out of sync with the prevailing property prices in the city. His other propertues include a four-bedroom deluxe flat in Lucknow, and a plot in Ghaziabad. A K Mehta, a J K cadre 1978 batch Joint Secretary in UUD ministry, owns 10 immovable properties, which are three plots – two of which are in Golf City (Noida sector 75) worth Rs 37 lakh each – and a property in a Dwarka mall worth Rs 16 lakh.

India’s Biggest Real Estate Firm to Get Crores

Posted on May 31, 2011 by admin

The Biggest real estate firm intends to trade in a few IT parks and its hotel business, hoping to wrap up 7,000 crore in the next two years and reduce its growing gross debts.

Its tax dues are on the peek, in the financial year 2011. It has received an additional tax demand of 546.85 crore from the IT-department in the last quarter of 2010-11. Net profit in the consequent quarter of last year was 426.38 crore.

Over the last 1½ years, the real estate major had already sold some non-core assets such as hotel sites in Delhi and Hyderabad as well as non-contiguous land parcels to receive around 3,000 crore. The company said it could sell non-core assets such as IT Parks that generate low return but not the buildings and other developed buildings. The company aspire to become debt-free by the mid term.

DLF’s initial plan was to obtain 4,500 crore from sale of non-core assets, but now plans to procure 10,000 crore in the next 2-3 years. With 3,000 crore already in its stake from sales of non-core assets in the last 18 months, it is now identifying properties to procure the balance 7,000 crore.

JP Morgan has Capitalized into Parsvnath Developer’s Residential Project

Posted on May 30, 2011 by admin

JP Morgan financed $30 million in Parsvnath Developer’s residential project La Tropicana launching in Civil Lines area of New Delhi. The deal contains of an additional funding for the real estate group through JP Morgan’s local NBFC in India. The part of the funds raised has been used by Parsvnath to provide an exit to Red Fort Capital, which had put in Rs 115 crore in the project in 2009. Red Fort has made a 30 percent return on its investment in the project. Ernst and JP Morgan did not comment on the deal.

Parsvnath sold 18 percent stake in its 16.8-acre high-end residential La Tropicana project to private equity firm Red Fort Capital for 90 crore in 2009 and later in the same year sold another 4percent to the fund for Rupees 25 crore. The 400 apartment project, which was launched in 2008, has been much delayed and is now estimated to be completed by 2013. The developer is still selling apartments in this project at 14,000 per sq ft. The project was launched at Rs 8,000 per sq ft. Last year, Parsvnath had sold 24.5% stake for 120 crore to Red Fort Capital in an office project that it is building on land it received from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. The project is being made on a build-operate-transfer basis. January this year, Sun-Apollo India Real Estate Fund invested Rs 100 crore for a 49.9 percent stake in a residential project, Parsvnath Exotica, in Ghaziabad near Delhi.

Greater Noida’s Land Rates Inflated at 12.5% by UP Govt.

Posted on May 25, 2011 by admin

Post farmers protests for hightened land reimbursements, authorities of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway on Monday decided to inflate land rates by 12.5%. To counterweigh the loss, authorities have also inflated land allotment rates by the similar percentage. This was revealed by Chairman Mohinder Singh at a press conference.

Moreover, authorities have permitted for 04 new metro rail projects including City Centre to NH-24 via Sector 71 overpassing, Sector 71 intersecting to Bodaki railway station in Greater Noida via Sector 121 and Noida Extension and Kalindi Kunj to Botanical Garden. The fourth link from Sector 94 to 142 via 124 and 44 will tie the Noida-Greater Noida Line to Kalindi Kunj providing a direct connection to the Sarita Vihar line.

A raised road along the Shahdara drain is proposed from Sector 14-14A to Kalindi Kunj via Noida Sector 95. The line would be 5.8 kilometer long and cost would be Rupees 525 crore. Also, the board has agreed a laser park at Sector 91, a project for municipal solid waste management and other village development projects.

TATA Housing Project

Posted on May 20, 2011 by admin

Company declared in the coming three years will build a luxury housing project in Gurgaon and also declared its plans to venture into the international market this financial year. The sale price of a house starts from Rupees 1.5 crore. As the company’s expansion plan company is coming up with apprx 10 new projects this year. Also, they are looking at two new lines of business related to land development. It will be smaller in size than the realty business.” The company is planning to expand operations into international markets.

The plan to get into the international market is in advance stages, while the proposal for expanding into two new lines of business is still at an intial stage. He did not reveal further details on these new initiatives. This is the company’s second project in the city and the company is in advanced stages of launching two more projects in the Delhi-NCR this financial year.

17 Commonwealth Games Flats to be Demolished

Posted on May 11, 2011 by admin

NEW DELHI: 17 flats which DDA said were constructed illegally in the upper basement of the Games Village will soon be razed. The developer Emaar MGF have been served the notice by the building department of the Delhi Development Authority to this effect on May 2.

The vice-chairman of the DDA, G S Patnaik, said these flats were “illegal and have been sealed as of now”. The flats were not constructed as per the approved building plan, said DDA officials. The issue of the illegality of these flats came up just before the Commonwealth Games.

The total cost of these flats is between Rs 30 crore and Rs 40 crore.. The developer apparently gave an application on April 28, saying they are ready to remove the 17 unauthorized flats in the upper basements, without bias to their claim and rights under Master Plan-2021 and the building bylaws, provided the completion certificate is soon issued to the balance 1,168 flats in 34 towers.

Emaar already having sold off its share of 450-odd flats, the people who bought them for approximatly between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore each have been asking the developer to hand over the property. The remaining flats are with DDA. But no flat can be allotted before the completion certificate is issued. The developer decided to let go the loss of having these 17 flats destroyed to accelerate the process of getting the completion certificate.

DDA claimed that a waterproofing of the basement is still going on and DDA has to ascertain whether the construction of the Village complex is within the overall ambit of Master Plan-2021 and the unified building bylaws which are in force in Delhi, then only the completion certificate can be given once these exercise has been completed.

During a recent hearing, DDA representatives presented that these illegal flats were not safe and not likely to be fit for occupancy as widespread leakage in the basement area was noticed during floods in April/September 2010. Moreover, several service lines of other flats are passing along the roofs of the unauthorized flats.

The purchasers of the Emaar flats, however, continue to suffer. As they have bought these flats because it was a government project with a time-bound deadline for completion. We were supposed to have got possession of the flats by March this year. They are suffering huge losses as many of them are paying 12% as annual interest on the loans taken from banks.

An Apartment in Mumbai goes for Rs 20 crore and Rs 61.5 crore in Delhi

Posted on May 7, 2011 by admin

MUMBAI

An apartment, measuring approx. 3000 sqft, recently was dealt for about Rupees 20 crore on Carmichael Road. This large apartment has a huge entrance lobby, living room with an adjoining dining area and a separate study room. The master bedroom has an en suit bathroom with a walk-in closet and beautiful sea views. The apartment has separate servant’s quarters and a covered and an open car parking. The building is equipped with amenities like a garden, pool table and a gym . Carmichael Road is one of the most posh localities of Mumbai with several oldstyle bungalows and apartment buildings.

PUNE

Lately, a 3-BHK apartment was sold at a price of Rupees 44,33,000 in Rich Woods, a new project by Rama Developers in Chikhli in the city. The price included of the car parking charges . Rich Woods is a project of 180 large 2 & 3 BHK apartments in 07 imposing towers with high-tech amenities and facilities. Chikhli is directly accessible from the Nashik highway and has great connectivity to the Pimpri Chinchwad area. This Group has made its mark in the city with two well executed projects to its credit. The base rates are being quoted at 3,100 per sqft, while the general residential rates in the area range between Rs 2,600 per sqft and Rs 3,100 per sqft. Chikhli area has grown as a feasible residential locality. It has become a perfect option for investors as well as ultimate users.

DELHI

In a latest deal in Delhi , a 600 square yard plot was dealt at a range of Rupees 61.5 crore. This old Ground+01 property is located in Shanti Niketan which is a rich residential micromarket in South Delhi. The property has been purchased by a well-known builder in NCR for redevelopment. The builder plans to build a Ground+3 storied structure and construction activity will start soon. The builder has already started marketing the project . The first floor is been quoted for Rs 20 crore, the second floor for Rupees 20.5 crore, and the third floor for Rs 21 crore. The project commands a premium in terms of price, due to its South Delhi location which is well connected to all the major business complexes in the NCR and most of the foreign embassies are in the neighbourhood in the location.

Govt Approves FDI Proposals

Posted on May 5, 2011 by admin

The govt. today approved 21 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rupees 1,027 crore, including ACB India and Oriental Tollways. FIPB took a total of 47 FDI proposals but the board delayed decisions on 17 applications and refused nine, the Ministry of Finance stated.

The board gave its approval to ‘Oriental Tollways Pvt Ltd’ (Delhi and Haryana) for launching of foreign equity in an investing company. The proposal may bring in FDI worth Rupees 475 crore and ‘Darjeeling Organic Tea Estates’ application for launching of foreign equity and to a collaborator to handle the business of production, distribution andalso the export of tea was approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The firm aims at FDI worth Rupees 93.37 crore.

11% Hike Observed in Mumbai Rentals

Posted on April 25, 2011 by admin

Rising real estate rates may have resulted in a spiky decline in property sales, but it has lead to a good growth in rental value in Mumbai and other metropolitan cities in the country. Mumbai and the outskirts of the city have seen an 11% growth in rental value in the past year. The figure for Bangalore, Pune and Delhi has shot up by 13%, 11% and 9% respectively.

Unexpectedly, rental value in South Mumbai, one of the most preferred locations to stay in the city, has seen a drop. The Worli residential market saw a 21.31% drop last year, while the figure for Prabhadevi, Parel and Bandra (West) fell by 18%, 12% and 11.57%. “The rent in South Mumbai had gone up to the roof. It is still unaffordable. So, people are shifting towards the suburbs and outskirt of the city,” a real estate expert said. However, the rental value in the suburbs too has shot up radically. Borivli (West) witnessed a record of 42.25% growth, while the rates have shot up by 35.04% in Powai, 28.32% in Malad and 20.40% in Kandivli (East). The Mumbai metropolitan region too has seen a rise in rental value. The figure for Mira Road and Seawoods shot up by 39.28% and 36.36% respectively in the past year.

A real estate expert featured the rise in rental value to exorbitant property rates in Mumbai. “People prefer to stay in rented homes instead of buying a house. Also, there is a huge arrival of people in the city. As a result, there is a huge demand for rented homes,” a study says. Government data compiled by the stamp duty department also shows that there is a 35% of rise in the number of lease agreements being signed in the city.

DDA Results Out: Dream Come true for 16,118 Lucky Applicants

Posted on April 20, 2011 by admin

Over seven lakh of people had rowed up to try their luck to have one’s own house in Delhi and a majority of them were disappointed. But for the 16,118 people it was a short of miracle, who now finally have an address of their own. Though DDA had published the list in newspapers and also uploaded it on its website, many turned up at Vikas Sadan on Tuesday to ensure that it wasn’t a fantasy.

“Suresh Kumar Kher who works at the airport got lucky as he was allotted a LIG flat in Narela. He with his wife, Sudha, and son went to Vikas Sadan as they wanted to be doubly sure of having got the flat. “We had checked the DDA website in the morning and I had asked a friend also to double check it. My wife’s prayers have been answered. We live in rented accommodation at INA now and can’t believe we finally have a house of our own in the city. This is the first time they applied got lucky.

Kameshwar Nath Mahato, came to Delhi from Jharkhand 15 years back. He works as a supervisor at United Coffee House. He was in suspense till the morning as he couldn’t access the DDA website because of the heavy traffic. “The flat is in the name of my wife, Anita Kumar Mahato, and I have worked very hard for this. I, my wife and my two-year-old daughter are going to see our LIG flat in Rohini’s Sector-28. The house is affordable, about Rs 13 lakh, ” Said Kameshwar Nath.

Vikas, had come to check on behalf of his brother, Sandeep Kumar, said the family was going to Sirsa to pray at a Gurdwara and thank god for the good luck granted on
them “We live on rent in Karol Bagh but now I can tell my friends that I have a house of my own. Also, we brothers can finally think of marriage now that we have a house,” said Vikas, whose brother has been allotted an LIG flat in Narela.

Mahesh Kumar had been provoked by his girlfriend and his father to take a chance. “I’ve never been so lucky and wasn’t anticipating much from this scheme. I applied at the last minute and didn’t even look at the paper in the morning. I am thrilled,” he said.

Ranjan Chopra didn’t bother to go to the DDA headquarters. He lives in Munirka and was working on Tuesday. Now, the proud owner of an HIG Flat in Vasant Kunj, he said. The entire family will now be shifting in a big house. “It’s because of my faith in god and the blessings of parents that I have been able to get it,” he says.

DLF Deals with Mango: Ramps its Presence in Fashion Retail

Posted on April 19, 2011 by admin

DLF Brand, a subordinate of DLF Ltd, has come up with its presence in fashion retail trade by collaborating with the Spanish Brand Mango. This happened since the brand announced its two other new retail trends, including a multi-brand showroom chain, of its own. The DLF group company had also launched, for the first time, its own brand, Pure Home and Living, a premier home decor and furnishing brand of retail showrooms. The first of the showroom opened in Delhi two months back competing with Future Group’s Home Town and Landmark Group’s Home Centre.

Mango, the Spanish Fashion Brand, with over 1,700 showrooms worldwide, decided to sign up DLF as partner to fast track its expansion after nearly a decade of operations in India. The Spanish Brand of clothing has been majorly in partnership with Major Brands through which it released almost 15 stores. DLF will be leading the new showrooms openings. DLF, which has already opened Mango’s travel retail showroom at the new terminal (T3) of New Delhi airport and plans to add another six more stores in the current year, said DLF Brands CFO Dipak Agarwal.

“The major collaborations are now looking to grow assertively here in India having been around for so long. The company wants to concentrate on brand-building and designate the expansion to its franchisee,” Agarwal added. DLF also operates other universal fashion names such as Armani, DKNY, Ferragamo and Mothercare.

DLF is set to launch a multi-brand retail store chain of international fashion brands, the company official said. These showrooms will also store brands that are not part of DLF Brands and will be competing with the high-end retail formats like The Collective, a unit of Aditya Birla Nuvo.

“The multi-brand showrooms will be like a premium discount showrooms keeping high-end fashion labels but at lower price, as there is an opportunity in the market for such showrooms which are highly internationally popular. These stores will be done up gracefully and won’t look like the second stores or factory outlets which are available at present,” Agarwal said. The first of the multi-brand showroom is spread across 10,000 sq. ft which will open in Gurgaon.

DLF group spreads across 16,000 to 18,000 sq. ft is looking to open more 4-5 stores in Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune by end of this year.

Wake Up Call against Illegal Construction

Posted on June 14, 2010 by vishal

Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) proposes to regularise several hundred unauthorised constructions in its area by imposing fines and development charges on the house-owners

In order to check the illegal constructions across the capital, especially on the land for agriculture, the concerned departments are ordered by the Delhi Government to come up with strict actions against such activities.

As per the instructions of Mr.Raj Kumar Chouhan, the Revenue Minister, any illegal construction will not be tolerated and along with the guilty, the government officials will also be punished if they fail to control such activities.

He added that if anyone is found who is carrying out any construction activities in 1,639 unauthorized colonies, which are being considered for regularization by the government will also be considered guilty and will be punished as well.

Finally, he also said that government would not stand aside but will take action against developers and land mafia if they are found guilty.

The RBI’s Realty Indices For Ahmedabad

Posted on June 8, 2010 by vishal

Ahmedabad happens to be one of the 11 countries for which the reserve bank of India would prepare one index for commercial and one for residential properties. This is done to curtail speculations and expected realty bubble burst in the coming years. The RBI report on asset price monitoring system (ASMS) advised to formulate these indices two months back.

Reserve Bank of India, Kolkata
Photo by seaview99

Many different countries such as Canada, France, us refer to these indices for realty prices.

The report says, RBI should start compiling a realty index and update it every quarter. To begin with, the report has proposed Mumbai and Delhi where property prices have skyrocketed to record levels. After these cities RBI would add 10 other cities which include Greater Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bangalore and Bhopal.

The real estate price index once devised would become the primary index that could be perused by investors to gauge the performance of companies that are listed in the realty sector. The index can also help the investor analyze how real estate is performed in comparison to stocks and bonds. It can also provide information on the risk involved in a particular investment and returns that can be achieved from it.

The ASMS report has defined the deficiencies this indices would help overcome.

Comeback of Luxury Homes

Posted on June 2, 2010 by vishal

After a year, the realty market seems to be overwhelmed with the comeback of the demand of luxury homes. Apart from the prime locations like Bangalore and Mumbai, the tier-II or tier-III cities, such as Nagpur and Ahmadabad are also witnessing remarkable growth as far as luxury homes are concerned. Within just six months, these cities have seen a rise of about 20-25% in account of premium residential projects.

Some of the developers who have floated several luxurious schemes across the country in order to grab more and more investors and end-users are Hiranandanis, Sobha, DB Realty, Lodhas , Indiabulls and Prestige.

However, each city has its own range of prices of these luxury homes. The cities Bangalore and Hyderabad have a pricing of Rs 6,000 per sq ft while the pricing in Mumbai is Rs 30,000 per sq ft.

“From Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) which is a real-estate consultant, the managing director, strategic consulting, Mr. Deepak Bhavsar said that there has been an increase of 10-12% projects in Delhi NCR and Mumbai.

Realty Now Attracting Textile Firms

Posted on June 1, 2010 by vishal

2005-07-02 028
Since the land rate are rising and realty seems to be the most profitable market, many of the top textile firms are also attracted to this business and are thus generating additional revenue streams by developing or selling precious real estate.

Some of such firms are Provogue India, Century Textiles & Industries, Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing and Alok Industries. These all aim at boosting the cash flow and reducing debts.

In the last year, the cities like Mumbai and Delhi have gone through a big hike in property prices. Across the whole world, Mumbai is rated as the most expensive office location.

The chairman of brokerage CNI Research, Kishor P Ostwal said that a lot of companies own huge land banks but the valuations in the market are given only to those who aim to develop these land banks and not just own them.

Thus, Century and Bombay Dyeing are both rated as a ‘buy’ by Ostwal since they have premium large tracts in central Mumbai.

Major Land Deals in India

Posted on May 27, 2010 by vishal

Residential building
Since now days, land is the most promising resource, the developers are ready to pay any price just to get into the realty business.

Here are some of the major deals in the field of land:

1. The Lodha developers had a deal of Rs 4,053cr for a plot of 25,000 sq mts. The sq per mtr cost is about Rs 81,818.
2. Next closest deal was by Sunteck India. It was a deal of Rs 3,465 crore. Following Sunteck was Indiabulls Real Estate at Rs 3,327 cr which was backed by Gaurhari Estate at Rs 2,251 cr.
3. In 2008, BPTP, a Delhi based builder had a deal of Rs. 5000 cr for a 95 acre plot in Noida. Unfortunately the deal could not get through.

Lodha Developers plan to launch a 650 million dollar IPO in the end of this year. Also, they plan to build a residential building worth Rs. 10,500 cr in the center of Mumbai.

Buyers Now Moving Towards Delhi

Posted on May 13, 2010 by vishal

According to a recently conducted survey, it has been found that over 34% of the people who are interested in purchasing property across the country wish to own a home in NCR-Delhi.

The survey revealed the fact that NCR/ Delhi has got the highest priority in 2010 for real estate investment, i.e. the most preferred realty investment destination in 2010 is NCR/Delhi. With 28% purchasers interested in Mumbai, it has become the next choice of investors. Next in the line are Hyderabad and Bangalore with 11% buyers.

Also, as per the survey, in 2010 the real estate sector is likely to be much more driven by the end user. Since last year was under the clouds of unstable property prices and recession, the investors were backing off from the realty sector, but with the slightly stable property prices and the better conditions of economy, they are back into the lead. It would also be interesting to know that most of the purchasers, who this year plan to buy a house are usually the one who want it for own use which brings a conclusion that the ones who drove the realty in 2004-07, the speculators are out of the market now. Even the people interested in buying property now are the long-term investors.

The survey also brought out the fact that 67% of the property seekers are interested in property for own use and just 23% are the ones who are long term investors.

The Indian Hospitality Industry-An overview

Posted on March 22, 2010 by vishal

Indian hospitality industry has emerged as a hotspot destination for investment for the global hospitality companies in the last few years. Many leading global hotel chains aim to enter India in the near future and the ones that are already present in the country as of now are eager to expand. The companies are betting big on dearth of hotel rooms in the nation.

ATTARD - Hôtel Corinthia Palace
Photo by Michel27Industry estimates say, in the next 3 years there will be about 40 international hotels operational in the country. These global chains plan on catering to all the classes—the upper scale, mid-scale, the economy and the budget.

Some of the chains that are set to come to India are MGM Mirage Hospitality a US-based firm, Amari from Thailand, Fairmont Raffles Hotels, Golden Tulip Hotels, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, Corinthia Hotel group from Europe, Carlson, Starwood, Choice, Marriott, Accor, Hyatt, Intercontinental and Hilton.

Amari Hotels is set to launch Amari India and is searching for expansion opportunities in the Indian metro and tier-II cities to open seven hotels and resorts within the next 5-7 yrs. Likewise, MGM Mirage Hospitality aims to sign management contracts with realty sector developers as joint venture initiatives with local companies to set up hotel properties in the country.

Kaushik Vardharajan of HVS Hospitality Services said that, “India is more profitable for global hospitality firms than the international market. There is huge demand-supply gap which offers opportunities for international firms”. Data gathered by the firm shows that the international and domestic hotel chains had announced in August to build at least 9400 rooms in the country but the actual construction is underway for 3,840 rooms only.

Another hotel chain, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International is in advanced stage of discussions for properties in Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa and Chennai.
Golden Tulip is looking to add 10 properties which totals to 800 keys across tier-II towns by the end of the next financial year.

Four Seasons, a luxury hotel brand is in various stages of discussions with developers for constructing properties in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Goa. “There is enough room for several players to enter the market. India will become a major market for our company,” said Director Marketing Four Seasons, Sanjiv Shukla.

Accor, which has five hotels at present, will expand its network to 50 with 10,000 rooms in 15 cities by 2012.

ITC Welcomgroup plans to add 40 hotels to its 113 under four brands out Of which 25 are under the Fortune brand of business hotels. Senior Executive Vice-President at ITC, Pawan Verma said that “We are attached to the ground unlike them (international chains). We excel in Indian hospitality”.

The Taj Group is growing furiously both in the country and abroad. It is looking to roll more than 70 new hotels in 4 categories including its budget brand Ginger to add to the 105 hotels out of which 17 will be abroad.

However, falling rates of up to 18 per cent over last year has become a cause of concern for these hospitality chains. In 2008-09, the average room rate was Rupees 7,800 which has now reduced to Rupees 6,396 per night.

Still it will not be wrong to say that Indian hospitality is in a state of war where hotel rooms are being built like army barracks.

Raheja gets 500 crores’ Delhi slum project

Posted on October 6, 2009 by admin

DDA has awarded Delhi’s first slum redevelopment project, worth Rs 500 crore, to a local builder, Raheja Developers, in a move that may see more such projects in the national capital resulting in better living conditions for urban poor and thousands of crores of businesses for builders.

DDA has awarded 5.22-hectare, or 13-acre, project at Kathputli Colony near Shadipur Depot in west Delhi to Raheja Developers for Rs 6.11 crore, a DDA spokesperson said. Under the scheme, the builder pays only Rs 6.11 crore—the bid amount—for the land, but has to build 2,800 homes, of 30 square metre size each, for existing slum dwellers of Kathputli Colony named after its majority residents of puppeteers and craftsmen.

In the bargain, the builder gets for commercial exploitation 10% of the total space slated for 2800 homes and also close to a hectare for high-end residential development. Therefore, the cost incurred in building 2800 homes for slum-dwellers will be offset by the sale of commercial space and high-end houses in the project, while land would come dirt cheap at Rs 6 crore.

DLF has recently sold 1250 apartments in its Capital Greens project, just 3-4 kilometres from Shadipur Depot at a rate of Rs 5677 a square feet. Raheja Developers will have to create temporary accommodation for the slum dwellers at a piece of land close to the project site that will be given by the DDA in a month or two.

Real estate rentals come down

Posted on August 14, 2009 by admin

The trend of Delhi/ NCR shows a huge fall in commercial real estate rentals. It is well known that companies are moving their offices from gurgaon to other areas of NCR because of the high rental costs there. Most of the commercial areas in delhi are offering fully furnished office spaces at much lower cost. This trend has made a tremendous change in gurgaon commercial rental market. However, a clear scenario will be visible in near future but the change is on its way.

I think companies are doing dual cost cutting by moving their offices to other areas. First cost cutting is clear to everyone that is by reduction in rental cost. Second one is bit indirect. As it is known that gurgaon is well known commercial area. Every company provides conveyance facility to their employees because most of the employees come from other areas. If company shifts, the transportation cost will definitely reduce.

Two million affordable houses required

Posted on August 13, 2009 by admin

Affordable housing is the only solution for the middle income indians. Most of the people are in search of affordable homes in metros particularly in delhi/ ncr, bangalore, chennai and pune. According to the report by Knight Frank Research Households with an annual income between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 10 lakh in Mumbai, NCR, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune will need 1.65 billion square feet of space in coming couple of year. This trend may help developers to launch affordable house projects. But to make their projects more feasible, developers should think that their projects should not be in to far fringes area. It should be properly connected to the city and easy transportation should be available to the main places of the city specially the railway stations and airport.

Gurgaon lose its position of the biggest real estate rental

Posted on August 8, 2009 by admin

Gurgaon used to be the preferred place for office rental. During the last couple of months, office rental increased tremendously. This led many companies to think about moving their offices to other cities. Even the lock-in period has failed to stop the companies to shift. Companies are also getting fully furnished offices at almost half the rates compared to what they were paying. Due to such trend, the demand for furnished office space is on the rise in Delhi as well as in all the major towns of the country. Companies prefer to start their office in furnished offices rather than starting them in bare commercial place.

IREO to invest 500 million dollars

Posted on July 11, 2009 by admin

Global real estate giant IREO will invest 500 million dollars in various infrastructure projects in India.
IREO is already one of the largest investors in the country’s real estate sector. The company currently has thirteen projects and is in the process of constructing an IT SEZ in Pune. The company has projects in many states including Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Delhi. The company said it would develop an eight million square feet housing project in the next one year.

Realtors use technology to boost productivity

Posted on July 6, 2009 by admin

SALES slowdown, stagnating capital values and a need to manage resources better are pushing Indian realty firms to invest in technology that will help them achieve optimum productivity, information access and regulatory compliance.

End-to-end enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, that manage diverse projects across different locations, are slowly finding favour. ERP vendors are seeing increased enquiries pushing them to develop tailored solutions targeted at mid-market realty firms.

When Delhi realty firm RDS Projects’ standalone ERP deployment failed, it turned to a solution that provided efficient management of projects across locations and customers: Aurigo Brix. Similar was IDEB’s case, which used Aurigo’s product across realty projects in Southeast Asia and India.

Recently, global tech giant SAP said Maharashtra-based builder City Corporation has gone live on its ERP solutions to help accelerate business plans, such as building 50,000 houses across five townships in Pune including India’s first digital township, Amanora Park Town.

SAP has signed deals with Chennai-based True Value Homes and the Kolkata-headquartered Tantia Construction and also counts GMR Infra and HCC as its major clients.

From tech biggies to mid-market IT firms, everybody is gunning for a slice of this market. While Bangalore-based Sonata Software has launched SonnetCONSTRUCT, a specialised ERP solution for this vertical, Oracle India and HP have teamed up for a bundled offering — Oracle Accelerate Solution for HP ProLiant servers — that will help mid-size businesses across verticals sustain and grow operations.

While vertical-specific ERP figures are not available, the overall market is expected to top $250 million in 2009, growing at a CAGR of over 25.2% between 2004 and 2009.

The firm recently launched its fifth generation product, BRIX 2009, an industry add-on to Microsoft’s ERP solution suite, Dynamics AX and available through select partner channels in the US, Middle East and Africa.

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